Believe it or not, I received a Saint Patrick's Day greeting card from England this year. As a descendant of a Pennsylvania Dutch family which has been in America since 1729 (and I am a proud,'card-carrying' member of the DAR) I should be an unlikely recipient of such a card, so it was a real surprise.

I know I have been hiding under an Irish-sounding name for several decades now, but my husband's family name was actually Welsh. Well, I guess the sender assumed I was Irish, and not only that but, according to the card, a descendant of Irish kings. I can hear my Swiss German ancestors laughing at the thought. I remember the old TV show "Queen for a Day"... but Kings?

I recall the patriotic song we sang in grammar school:

"I yam an American, I yam from the heart of me..."

I don't know why that's the way that word always came out, 'yam' instead of 'am." Oh well, I was Irish for the day. Top o' the mornin' to ye!"

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Has it been awhile since you and your 'significant other' have gone dancing? If so, you will be happy to learn that dancing takes place every Friday night beginning at 7 p.m. at the Bayview Senior Center, 200 East Lloyd Street in Pensacola. Sponsored by the Over 55 Dance Club, the cost for the dance is $4 for members and $5 for guests.

This active club for seniors has other events, including dances on Monday nights, and a tea dance and luncheon on the first and third Thursday of each month, all at the Bayview Senior Center. To learn more about the club, call president Ruby Inman at 473-0357, or vice president Bob Brown at 458-0566.

Spring plans include an Easter dance on April 6.

Maybe your saddle shoes are long gone, but I guarantee you that all those dance 'moves' are still there. Try it - you'll ask yourself why you have waited so long!

********** Do you have hazardous waste that you don't know what to do with somewhere around your home? I mean things like old paint cans, toxic pesticide sprays lingering in the bottom of old containers - something you can't put out with the weekly trash, but you don't know where to take it for safe disposal?

South Santa Rosa County's Hazardous Waste Amnesty Day will be held March 24 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The location to drop off these materials is 5819 Gulf Breeze/Midway, next to the Zoo. Questions? Call 850 - 981-7135.

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Working my way through the must-have fashion magazines that have been a habit (well, all right, an addiction) of mine since my student days of fashion design, I noticed several things that have changed over the years.

For instance, Harpers' Bazaar magazine now weighs in at nearly seven pounds, and the Vogue at about five pounds, and I'll bet that the mailman really hates the days he has deliver them. (Let's hope that both never arrive on the same day!)

Also, I noticed that there is a new feature in the Bazaar called "Fabulous at Any Age," which covers what to wear, cosmetics, and even minor cosmetic surgery, such as botox injections and skin peels. This section begins at age twenty and runs up to age seventy. Now wait a minute - who says we don't want to look good after 70?!

Well, no matter what 'they' say, I'm still going to keep my lipstick handy, and I won't give up hats!

I can't help but wonder what they (the editors and writers) look like. All right, I'll eschew the wind-blown, just-got-out-ofbed hairdo and false eyelashes. I think I will settle for somebody my daughter might be more proud to introduce to her friends saying, "This is my mother."

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Think about this one: Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have is not permanent!

See you next week.